Car Collector Chronicles 09-13

7/30/2019 Car Collector Chronicles 09-13

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Volume VI, Issue 9

on sale with MSRP below $2K

9/13/1899 NYC 1st U.S. autofatality9/16/1908 GM formed9/19/1919 Buick founded9/19/1937 Duesenberg closes

- Stay cool & enjoy your ride(s)!

We had the opportunity toparticipate in the OldsmobileClub of America-WI Chaptercar show last month. Therewere more than a few reallynice rides at the show. For me,the standout was a 2-tonebrown 48 Olds Coupe (see picpage). It sported repop Cadwire wheels and a 59 ChevySport Steering Wheel. A wholelot of time, money and energyhas been spent on this ride, and

it showed.Perhaps the most interesting

ride was 1971 Olds Cutlass. Itwas the most interesting be-cause, even though it reeked ofpatina, and cried out for savingfrom the crusher, its owner wasimmensely proud of it. Equally

gratifying was the fact theowner was a youngster, goinginto his freshman year of collegethis month. Kudos to thisyoung man! The hobby needs

every teen it can getMy nephew reminded me that

I never reported back on how

the lift repair went. I am glad tosay it went very well. As it wascompleted in less than 30 min-utes, there was no charge inaddition to the $150 show-up

charge.There was a bit of embarrass-

ment when the technician didpull out a 6 inch cold chisel Ihad left inside the column when

trying to make repairs!The problem was as I had

diagnosed. There was toomuch slack in the lift chain, per-mitting misalignment of thecolumn lock. The misalignmentmade it difficult to release thelock. This was corrected byadding a shim, which incidentallyhad been sitting on my garagefloor ever since the lift was

installed; installed improperlydare I say?Sep Automotive Milestones-

9/2/1959 Ford Falcon debuts9/2/1893 Duryea builds 1stU.S. car9/7/1954 T-bird debuts9/11/1970 Ford Pinto goes

High RPMs

GDYNetson the Web

Find GDYNets on the web:

CCC -THE FORUM-A website to discuss the newsletter,the hobby and our cars.

Car Collector Chronicles

Saved 62 -Our 1962 Oldsconvertible, Ransom Eli Oldsand things Oldsmobile relatedweb site.

The Gray Lady-1955 CadillacCoup de Ville web site.

SAVED 62: A website devotedto our 1962 Oldsmobile Dy-namic 88 convertible. The sitealso has a lot of information onOldsmobile cars and the com-

pany founder, Ransom Eli Olds.

THE GRAY LADY: This web-site features our 1955 CadillacCoup de Ville, lots of Caddyinformation and an extensive

repair library.

DAVES DEN: -A site de-voted to a myriad of interests.Foremost is extensive informa-tion on the Steel City of Gary,IN. There are also offerings onsteel making, U.S. Steel-GaryWorks, U.S. Marine Corps, M14assault rifle, of course Oldsmo-bile, and the tragic story of themurder of Gary, IN Police Lt.

George Yaros.

A GDYNETSPUBLICATION

2013, G. DAVIDYAROS. ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.

September 2013Ca s

Car Collector

Chronicles

Exploring:

Car Collecting Today

Classic Rides

Reports From the Field

Oldsmobile (1897-2004)

Cadillac (1902- )

Allant (1987-1993)

Corvair (1960-1969)

= Clickable Link

IN THIS ISSUE:

High RPMs 1

GDYNetsOn the Web

1

The Gray Lady 2

Me and My Arrow 3

CCCPresents 5

CCCForum EMail:[email protected]
http://ccc.activeboard.com/http://www.scribd.com/D_Yaroshttp://www.freewebs.com/jeandaveyaroshttp://graylady.webng.com/http://gdynets.webng.com/http://gdynets.webng.com/http://ccc.activeboard.com/http://ccc.activeboard.com/http://ccc.activeboard.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://ccc.activeboard.com/http://gdynets.webng.com/http://graylady.webng.com/http://www.freewebs.com/jeandaveyaroshttp://www.scribd.com/D_Yaroshttp://ccc.activeboard.com/


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Surely by the time you read this TheGray Lady shall be back in her stall in theYaros Car Barn? What I can say forcertain now is that as I edit this on 31

Aug., she has yet to return. I did receivea phone call from the shop the first of

August. It was explained that the shopis waiting on the arrival of parts. A mas-ter cylinder rebuild kit and a heater con-trol valve seal are on their way fromCaddy Daddy out of Napa, CA. Theguesstimate was made that I shouldhave the car back within 3 or 4 days af-ter the parts make it to Milwaukee.

The shop owner does read CCC, as he noted that last month I had written that Ithought I would have had the car back by now. He reminded me that when we con-ferred face-to-face I made it clear that I was in no rush. He is correct on that score. Idid make that statement. [Note to Self: Dont go saying not in a rush to service sup-

pliers!] He also pointed out that there are 37 other cars in front of mine at the shop. Tohis credit, he did indicate that when my needed parts do arrive he will push my car up tothe top of the to-do list. I appreciated that, and told him so. Even though I am not in arush, 76 days (as of 31 Aug), to me, seems like a mighty long time?

Here are the Technician Notes I have been furnished by the resto shop:Fuel leaking from new level sender at gasket. Tank needs to come down for repair.Heater control valve seized, cable is broken.W.W. motor cable broken. Wiper motor very stiff/gunked up inside. Pulled apart,

cleaned, knocking down high spots in housing. Reassembled and should be ok now.Pulled front drums. Front cylinders are seized. All are full of rust. Need to replace

cylinders and flex hoses. Front shoes look new. Drums need turning.

Front wheel bearings look good but need to be repacked.Disassembled and cleaned up wiper motor. Motor smooth and free. Holds and ex-

hausts vacuum now.Pulled heater control valve. It took a while to free it up. Cleaned it up and kept work-

ing it until it finally moved smoothly. The valve does hold pressure and the temp bulbsdo activate the control valve when heated.

Got rear drums pulled after car got up in the air. The rear cylinders are seized andthe brakes were over adjusted, so were probably dragging. New parts ordered. Drumssent out for turning.

Interestingly, back in June of 2012 I had a local mechanic who works on old rides dealwith both the poor running engine and the under performing brakes. After charging mein excess of $200 for his efforts he informed me my distributor vacuum advance ap-peared to not be working. He also pronounced my braking system to now be operating

fine.Readers know that I removed the distributor vacuum advance myself, had it rebuilt by

Terrill Machine out of DeLeon, TXand did the reinstall.Based on what the current tech has found with the brake system, one may safely as-

sume that the earlier mechanics idea of resolving my brake problem was to over ad-just the rear brakes. Guess I can cross that place off my list of repair facilities to callon in the future? No guessing about it. Done!

The Gray Lady

Car Collector Chronicles Page 2

[O]ne may

now safely

assume that

the earlier

mechanicsidea of

resolving

my brake

problem

was to over

adjust the

rear

brakes.
http://www.caddydaddy.com/http://www.deleontexas.com/chamber/tacar.phphttp://www.deleontexas.com/chamber/tacar.phphttp://www.caddydaddy.com/


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Me and My Arrow

Me and my arrowStraighter than narrowWherever we go, every one knows

It's me and my arrowHARRY NILSSON, Lyrics Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Me and my arrowTaking the high roadWherever we go, everyone knowsIt's me and my arrow

I wonder, does anyone besides meremember the Plymouth Arrow automo-bile? There is no reason you should, asit was a pretty unremarkable vehicle. Mycontact with it was certainly very limited.

In the summer of 1974 I bought my firstbrand new car. It was a 1973 AMC

Gremlin. As part of the deal I traded in a1963 Ford Falcon Futura convertible.

By the winter of 1976 I was again in themarket for a car. This was because theGremlin went into a skid on an interstate overpass north of Indianapolis, IN, hit a guardrailand went careening off into a farm field. The only useable items left after the accidentwere my aftermarket Stewart-Warner Oil/Amp/Temp gauges and the car license plates!

Somewhere, somehow I had heard of the Arrow. I decided I would go to the Plymouthdealership and check one out. I recall that it was late in the day when I made my appear-ance at the dealer showroom. They had 3 cars lined up, front-to-back, alongside theshowroom windows. The car I was looking at was #2, in the middle. To complicate mat-ters the keys to cars 1 and 3 could not be located. What to do?

Being wedged between two cars without keys proved to be no problem whatsoever for

the enterprising sales staff. Why not? Because the Plymouth Arrow was so light, lessthan 2,000 lbs, four young sales persons were able to lift the car at the corners and free itfrom the cramped space. They were quite proud of both their ingenuity and the masculineprowess utilized in an effort to get me behind the wheel of the Arrow for a test drive.As this was nearly two score years ago, my memory of the car is a bit hazy today. I do

recall the interior appointments were, shall we say, sparse. So sparse that the car had nocarpeting. It did have, however, a wall-to-wall rubber floor mat. I also do recall that thecar had little-to-no power whatsoever. Stepping on the accelerator yielded wonderment; awondering if the car was ever going to speed up!

I did feel bad, especially after the extra effort undertaken to free the car for a test drive,that I was not even remotely interested in buying an Arrow. Ultimately a new set of wheelswas purchased by me; a 1976 Ford Pinto. At my insistence the Pinto was cloaked in rac-ing orange paint. This was because I wanted the car to be able to easily be seen by fellow

motorists. It must have worked, as no one ever ran into me? That Pinto clocked 185,000miles before I passed it on to owner #2! I doubt the Arrow could have so endured?The Plymouth Arrow by the Numbers: Sold from 1976 through 1980, the Arrow was

but a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer Celeste. It produced all of 83 horsepower in the 1600cc/8.5:1 compression version, which took 14 long, painful seconds to get up to 60 m.p.h.The engine options were 1.4 L, 1.6 L and 2.0 L. four cylinders. Available transmissionswere the 4- or 5-speed manual or a 3-speed automatic, depending on configuration. Thewheelbase was all of 92.1 inches. The vehicle dimensions were 157.28 in. long; width 60.43in. wide and 53.74 in. tall. The car sat on 13 x 4.5 wheels with a 4-bolt 4/12 bolt pattern.Tire size was 600 x 13 (P155/80SR13 ). Surprisingly, the Arrow did come with front wheel discbrakes. Not a lot of cars presented with this feature in 1976. Gas mileage for the 1.6L was rated at

Because

the

Plymouth

Arrow wasso light, less

than 2,000

lbs., four

young sales

persons

were able to

lift the car at

the corners

and free it

from the

cramped

space.

Car Collector Chronicles Page 3


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Car Collector Chronicles Page 4;;

26 City39 Hwy. The MSRP was $3,175. One of the more interest-ing options available for the Arrow was a small tent ($80). When therear seats were lowered and the tent was clipped over the openhatchback, it would allow the back of the car to be used for camping.It was named the Arrow Tepee.

During its lifespan the Arrow was also offered as a pickup truck. It sold about as well as the hatchbackcar. 1980 witnessed the end for this ride. It had served its purpose, which was dual in nature. It providedan opportunity for the American motoring public with an economy mindset to buy American instead ofJapanese. It also gave Chrysler Corp. the time needed to develop in house its own econo box, the ubiqui-tous Plymouth Horizon/Dodge Omni.

This ride is so (fill in the blank) that today I am not able to locate an Arrow car club or find a PlymouthArrow being offered in the pages ofHemmings Motor News. Hagerty Insurance reports that the Arrownever got the love it deserved back in the day, and nobody seems to be collecting them now. Nor does itlist the Arrow in its valuation database. I suspect that is because there are no records of the car beingoffered for sale or being purchased by buyers. I think it would be interesting to know how many even existis this, the 21st century. A number less than 100 would not surprise me at all. A number in excess of 100

most certainly would.

Ok, Ive had my say for the month. Now its your turn! I invite/encourage submissionof your comments, opinions and article contributions. I also ask that you please helpspread the word about our publication. Everything sent shall indeed be reviewed by me.Submissions should be sent to CCC at [email protected].

Now that you have finished reading this months issue of the newsletter, come start/

join an ongoing dialog with otherCCC readers and like-minded car collector folk on theCCC Forum. Stop by, check us out and share your views .

______________________________________

-- RESTORE 'EM, AND DRIVE 'EM!

COMING NEXT ISSUE:

TBD Operational status ofThe Gray Lady
mailto:[email protected]://ccc.activeboard.com/http://ccc.activeboard.com/http://ccc.activeboard.com/mailto:[email protected]


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Car Collector Chronicles Page 5;;CCCPresents

1948 Olds Custom Coupe

Saved 62

Car Collector Chronicles 09-13

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